iOS share falls in November as Android enjoys biggest gain of 2013

The launches of Apple’s new iPad Air and Retina iPad mini weren’t enough to stop Android from making huge gains in November as the platform’s global share spiked while iOS’s share slid. Net Applications issued its updated market share data for the month of November on Sunday, though its figures can be better described as “usage share” since they measure market share by monitoring traffic across the firm’s various networks. According to the company’s data, sales momentum of Apple’s recent iPhone 5s and 5c launches has evaporated and the debuts of its new iPad Air and iPad mini with Retina display did nothing to pick up the slack. As a whole, Net Applications found that iOS’s usage share slid slightly to 55.17% in November from 55.39% in October. Meanwhile, Android built on earlier momentum to post its largest monthly gain of 2013, jumping to 33.89% in November from 30.58% in October. BlackBerry’s share slid from 2.55% in October to 1.65% in November and Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform still doesn’t have enough usage to escape the “other” category.